Ring circuit



April 21, 1953 1 w. MARSH, JR

RING CIRCUIT Filed April 3, 1945 BWM; 7525 Patented Apr. 2l, 1953` UNITED OFFICE RINGl CIRCUIT.

Lynn W.

Marsh, Jr., United States Army,

' Arlington", Va.

ApplicationApril 3, 19115,` Serial No.- 58 6,427

4 Claims;

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (.1952),

sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manui factured and' used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the' payment to 4 consecutive' release oi*v the relays'.

Another object is' to provide a' relay ring ciri cuit wherein but4 one' relay is required for each 'stage ofi the ring;

An additional' object is to provide a relay ring circuit' wherein the` order in which the relays are closed' may be' reversed' or otherwise" modified` at will'.

A further object is to provide a reversing' ring circuit wherein a continuous. applied signal will produce free continuous stepping.

Additional objects will be apparent from a reading' of' the following' specification and claims.'

Thelsingi'e drawing a diagram ci a` four-stage relay ring according to my invention.

It is believed that no elaborate description of the circuit will be necessary, its features being apparent` from the drawing and from the de`y scription or the operation of the ring.

With reference to the drawing, the ring circuit proper canbe seen to comprise tour' relay u windings, t0, II, l2, and I3, ea'clrwith a plurality Except for theV or* contacts operated thereby. contacts shown connected to relay 5I by broken lines, it should be understood"- that inthe. illustrated embodiment of the invention each of the relays I0, Il, I2, and I3 operates the several movable contacts located directly above it, and, furthermore, that the contacts shown with arrowheads are not electromagnetically actuated although they may in a few instances be mechanically moved (as contact I1 in the make-before-break contact group 26, Il, and I6). In other words, only those contacts shown as straight lines (see 39, 42, 56, and 65, for examples) are magnetically responsive. It should also be understood for the purposes oi this description that all magnetically movable contact members (except as otherwise noted) should be assumed to be drawn downwardly upon energication of the appropriate relay and returned to the positions shown upon deenergization thereof. Movable contacts 2 I, 39, 52, and 53 are drawn toward relay 5I upon energization thereof, and contacts 30, 54, 55, and 56 are moved downwardly thereby; again, these contacts should be understood to be returned to the positions shown upon deenergization of relay 5l.

A'ssuming'a series of pulses to be applied to the input of' the ring', operation is started by closing switch I4' momentarily. The rst pulse follows a circuit which includes line I5, contacts l5 and il", Itx and I9, and ZD and 2l, to winding Ill and ground at 23'. immediately' upon operation of relay' I0; a circuit is closed from battery at 25 through contacts 25 and Il', It and I9-, and 20 and 2i to winding i0 to lock the relay so that upon extinction or the operating pulse relay I3 will nevertheless remain in its operated condition. Contacts It and- I'i will, of cou-rse, be separated immediately after 2SA and ll are' closed. 'Phe energization ci winding lil does not anect the position of movable contact member' 2| or the movable contact member 3E, the operation and function of which will be later described.

A second operating pulse will follow a circuit which includes contacts 3l and 32, 35 and 33, te and' 35, Stand d?, @d and' armature 39', to winding il* and ground4 at` llt. The relay is locked just as 'was rel-ay i9" bythe closing of= movable contact t2" upon contact 35 whereby a circuit is established from battery d2" through contacts 42 and 35', 35 and '3"1?, 3d' and t5, winding Il, and ground 4t; simultaneously with the closing of relay Iii, the locking circuit for relay Ifil is opened by the opening of contacts IE and I9; A third operating pulse' will follow a path which includes contacts lit and l i', 5d and 5'4"', l2' and lf3, 'I4- and l5,l Tsi and 52, winding' lf2', and ground. The' relay l2f is` locked by the closing of'v movable contact il upon 13, and the locking circuit for relay Ift is opened by the opening or contacts 36 and 3l. A fourth operating pulse will iollow a circuit including SIi and 8l, 55 and 55, 5l and 58, 82 and 83, Sli and 53, winding i3, and ground. Relay I3 is locked by the closing of contact 65 upon 5d, and the locking circuit for relay I2 is opened by the opening of contacts lll and l5. Batteries ll and 96 energize locking circuits for relays I2 and I3, respectively, in the manner described ior relays it and il.

The indicated sequence or" operations Will continue as long as proper energizing pulses are supplied. Where but one operation per applied pulse is desired, the length of the pulses must be properly related to the closing time of the relays. Should a continous signal be applied to the input of the ring, the relays will close and open in succession, the speed of operation of the ring depending upon the characteristics of the relays therein.

The order in which the relays operate canbe reversed by closing switch 5t thereby to complete a circuit including battery 5t and energizing 3 winding 5I and to close armatures 2|, 39, 52, and 53 against xed contacts 2|', 39', 52', and 53', respectively, and at the same time to close movable contacts 39, 54, 55, and 56 upon contacts 30', 54', 55' and 56'.

If winding 5I is energized, together with winding I0, and a pulse enters the ring through contacts 3l and 32, and 30 and 39', for example, the pulse will follow a circuit which includes contacts 51 and 58, 59 and 60, and 53' and 53 to winding I3 and ground, and relay I3 is then locked operated by the closing of contact 65 upon contact 58 which brings battery 90 into the circuit of the relay winding. The following input pulse will enter the chain through contacts 9I--92, and follow a path defined by contacts 56 and 55', 12 and 13, 93 and 94, 52' and 52, winding I2 and ground. The succeeding input pulse enters the system through contacts 80 and 8| (the locking circuit for relay I3 having been opened at 59--60 Y upon operation of relay I2) and operates relay t circuit including contacts 91 and 98 to operate relay I6. The further operation of the ring in a reversed direction will be obvious.

No output contacts have been shown or described. Each ring stage may control through additional contacts one or more output stages in any desired fashion.

The foregoing description is in specic terms,

n and many modications will suggestrthemselves.

For the true scope of the invention, reference shouldbe had to the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of energy supply means and a pair of contacts, a chain of electro-responsive switches each having energizing means and a pair of contacts associated therewith and each when energized operating its pair of contacts, a pair of circuits including said supply means and one of said energizing means one of said circuits including the pair of contacts operated only by the switch ahead of that associated with said one energizingkmeans and the other including the pair of contacts operated only by the switch behind that associated with said one energizing means, and other homologous pairs of circuits including said supply means and each other energizing means.

2. The combination of claim 1, further characterized by an additional switch, a plurality of contacts operated thereby all of said contacts having two operative positions, one of said contacts closing one of said circuits of said pair when in one position and the other circuit of said pair when in its other position and the others of said contacts homologously controlling the said other pairs of circuits to vary the connecting paths between said supply means and said energizing means, and thereby selectively to close said further pairs of contacts.

3. A relay ring circuit comprising a power supply, first, second, third, and nth relays, each including energizing means and a plurality of pairs of contacts, a pair of energizing circuits including said power supply and the energizing means of said second relay one of said circuits including one of the said plurality of pairs of contacts operated by said rst relay and the other of said circuits including one of the said plurality of pairs of contacts operated by said third relay, an additional pair of energizing circuits including said supply means and the energizing means of said rst relay one of said additional circuits including one of said plurality of pairs of contacts operated by said nth relay and the other of said additional circuits including one of said plurality of pairs of contacts operated by said second relay, homologous pairs of energizing' circuits including said supply means and the energizing means of each other relay, and further switching means for selecting individual circuits from each of said pairs of energizing circuits.

4. The combination of claim 3, further characterized by a further power supply, locking circuit including said further power supply, the energizing means of each of said relays, and another of the said plurality of pairs of contacts operated thereby.

LYNN W. MARSH, JR.

References cited in the me of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 1,838,961 Robinson Dec. 26, 1931 2,118,424 Watanabe May 24, 1938 2,168,198 Frink Aug. 1, 1939 2,206,660 Bryce July 2, 1940 2,375,413 Guenther May 8, 1945 2,416,652 Stevens Feb. 25, 1947 2,439,405 Zierdt Apr. 13, 1948 2,498,249 Cook Feb. 21, 1950 

